Patent Description:
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present invention and may not constitute prior art.

In the automobile industry, an autonomous driving system and a driving assistance system that partially enables autonomous driving have been developed.

The autonomous driving system may provide various functions such as maintaining a predetermined speed, maintaining a distance between vehicles, maintaining a lane, and changing a lane. The autonomous driving system may perform autonomous driving by using various devices such as sensors for sensing vehicle's external environment, sensors for sensing vehicle information, GPS, precision maps, user state sensing systems, steering actuators, acceleration and deceleration actuators, communication circuits, and control circuits (e.g., electronic control units (ECUs)).

The autonomous driving system may monitor user's condition, and may provide an appropriate minimum risk maneuver (MRM) according to the user's condition. <CIT> recites a method and apparatus for activating or deactivating an automatic driving function of a technical system for assisting the driver of a motor vehicle, referred to as pilot, based on system states of the pilot and between which predefined transitions are possible on the basis of predefined conditions. <CIT> defines a method that involves transferring the motor vehicle from a takeover condition to a safe condition. The driving interference or a request for driver assumption determines plan of action, which contains temporal operational sequence of control commands of vehicle systems. <CIT> refers to a travel control apparatus including an abnormality information acquisition section that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected, a status determination section that makes a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, when the abnormality of the driver is detected continuously, and an evacuation control section that initiates an automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle when the status determination section makes a determination that the driver is in the driving difficulty state.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

The present invention is defined by the vehicle system according to independent claim <NUM> and the autonomous driving control method according to independent claim <NUM>. Preferred optional features are recited in the dependent claims.

As an embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle system according to independent claim <NUM> is provided.

In an exemplary form, the processor may stop the autonomous driving control when the control authority is transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver.

In an exemplary form, the processor may determine whether the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends when the control authority is not transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver.

In an exemplary form, the processor may transmit an engagement signal of the electronic parking brake device within a predetermined time or immediately after the vehicle is stopped.

In an exemplary form, the autonomous driving control apparatus may further include a communication device configured to transmit a signal for demanding engagement of the electronic parking brake device.

In an exemplary form, the processor may transmit the signal for disabling reactivation of an autonomous driving control function to at least one of an input device for inputting an autonomous driving control command, an output device for outputting an autonomous driving control state, or a device related to the autonomous driving control function in a vehicle.

In an exemplary form, the electronic parking brake control device may determine whether the vehicle is stopped when demanded for the engagement of the electronic parking brake device from the autonomous driving control apparatus.

In an exemplary form, the electronic parking brake control device may allow the electronic parking brake device to be engaged to transmit an engagement completion signal to the autonomous driving control apparatus when the vehicle is determined to be in a stopped state.

In an exemplary form, the autonomous driving control apparatus may release the autonomous driving control function when the control authority is transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver.

In an exemplary form, the vehicle system may further include an output device configured to output a signal for the demand for control authority transition or a signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function.

In an exemplary form, the vehicle system may further include an input device configured to receive an autonomous driving control function command from a user.

In an exemplary form, the autonomous driving control apparatus may transmits the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function to at least one of the input device, the output device, and a device related to the autonomous driving control function in a vehicle.

As an embodiment of the present invention, an autonomous driving control method according to independent claim <NUM> is provided.

In an exemplary form, the determining of whether the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends may include releasing the autonomous driving control when the control authority is transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver.

In an exemplary form, the determining of whether the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends may include determining whether the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends when the control authority is not transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver.

In an exemplary form, the demanding of the engagement of the electronic parking brake device may include may transmit an engagement signal of the electronic parking brake device within a predetermined time or immediately after the vehicle is stopped.

In an exemplary form, the processor may perform the reactivation command of the autonomous driving control function when the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver is started and the reactivation command of the autonomous driving control function is inputted from the user after the vehicle is restarted.

According to the present invention, when the vehicle stops after a MRM starts, a EPB is automatically engaged to prevent dangers that may occur after the vehicle stops, such as the vehicle leaving a driving lane due to user's misoperation.

In addition, various effects that can be directly or indirectly identified through this document may be provided.

In order that the invention may be well understood, there will now be described various forms thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only.

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present invention, or uses.

Hereinafter, some exemplary forms of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that in adding reference numerals to constituent elements of each drawing, the same constituent elements have the same reference numerals as possible even though they are indicated on different drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary forms of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle system including an autonomous driving control apparatus according to an exemplary form of the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, the vehicle system includes: an autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> for a vehicle, a sensing device <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, an output device <NUM>, and an electronic parking brake control device <NUM>, and an electronic parking brake device <NUM>.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may be implemented inside the vehicle. In this case, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may be integrally formed with internal control units of the vehicle, or may be implemented as a separate device to be connected to control units by a separate connection means.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> demands control authority transition of a user when a current driving condition is determined as a dangerous situation during autonomous driving control, and performs a minimum risk maneuver (MRM) to decelerate and stop the vehicle when the user does not permit the control authority transition. When the vehicle stops after performing the minimum risk maneuver, the automatic parking control device <NUM> may be controlled to be automatically engaged to release an autonomous driving control function in a state in which the vehicle maintains a stop, thereby preventing a dangerous situation due to a user's erroneous operation after the vehicle stops.

To this end, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> includes a storage <NUM> and a processor <NUM>, and may include a communication device <NUM>.

The communication device <NUM>, which is a hardware device implemented with various electronic circuits to transmit and receive signals through a wireless or wired connection, may perform communications with devices in the vehicle by using a network communication technique in the vehicle in the present invention, and the communications with the devices in the vehicle may be performed through controller area network (CAN) communication, local interconnect network (LIN) communication, and flex-ray communication.

As an example, the communication device <NUM> may transmit and receive control signals and data with respect to the sensing device <NUM> and the electronic parking brake control device <NUM>.

The storage <NUM> may store sensing results of the sensing device <NUM> regarding driving information of a vehicle, and data and/or algorithms (e.g., a set of instructions/commands) executed by the processor <NUM>, and the like.

As an example, the storage <NUM> may store road information of a road on which the vehicle is driving. For example, the road information may include a map, and the like. For example, the road information may include information related to road types (e.g., an automobile road or a general road), road end points, and characteristics of lanes (e.g., confluence lanes, etc.).

The storage <NUM> may include a storage medium of at least one type among memories of types such as a flash memory, a hard disk, a micro, a card (e.g., an secure digital (SD) card or an extreme digital (XD) card), a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a magnetic memory (MRAM), a magnetic disk, and an optical disk.

The processor <NUM> may be electrically connected to the communication device <NUM>, the storage <NUM>, and the like, and may electrically control each component, and may be an electrical circuit that executes software commands, thereby performing various data processing and calculations described below.

The processor <NUM> may process signals transferred between constituent elements of the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> and the devices in the vehicle. The processor <NUM> may be, e.g., an electronic control unit (ECU), a micro controller unit (MCU), or other sub-controllers mounted in the vehicle.

The processor <NUM> performs autonomous driving control. For example, the processor <NUM> may perform driving assistance control on the automobile road. In addition, the processor <NUM> may control activation of the autonomous driving control function or deactivation (release) of the autonomous driving control function.

The processor <NUM> determines whether a current driving condition is in a limit situation in which the autonomous driving control function is not to able to operate, based on at least some of sensing information regarding driving conditions of the vehicle or road information of a road on which the vehicle is running under the autonomous driving control. Herein, the limit situation may include a deviation from an operation design area of the autonomous driving control function, and the like. That is, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> determines whether the current driving condition is in the limit situation, such as a road condition, vehicle behavior, or user misoperation, in which maintaining functions of lanes and distances between vehicles cannot be properly operated.

When it is determined that the current driving condition is in the limit situation, the processor <NUM> demands to transfer a control authority to a user (e.g., a driver) of the vehicle. When the control authority transition is not permitted by the user, the processor <NUM> performs the minimum risk maneuver. In this case, the minimum risk maneuver may include performing deceleration with a constant deceleration (e.g., <NUM>/s<NUM>) and stop control when the user does not permit the control authority transition despite the demand for the control authority transition for a predetermined time (e.g., <NUM>).

As such, when the minimum risk maneuver is started, the processor <NUM> transmits a signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function. That is, when the autonomous driving control function is released after the minimum risk maneuver is started, the autonomous driving control function may be started after the vehicle is restarted. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may release the autonomous driving control function when the control authority is transferred to the user within a predetermined time or immediately after performing the minimum risk maneuver. In this case, the a signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function may be transmitted to the input device <NUM>, a device related to the autonomous driving in the vehicle, the output device <NUM>, and the like.

The processor <NUM> may control the vehicle according to another strategy for a dangerous situation when a magnitude of the deceleration required for avoiding the dangerous situation is greater than a specified value. When the control authority is not transferred to the user within the predetermined time or immediately after the minimum risk maneuver is performed, the processor <NUM> may determine whether the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends.

The processor <NUM> may transmit an electronic parking brake device engagement signal to the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> within a predetermined time or immediately after the vehicle is stopped.

The sensing device <NUM> may detect vehicle surrounding information. For example, the sensing device <NUM> may detect information (e.g., position, speed, and acceleration) related to an external object (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) positioned in a front, rear, or side of the vehicle.

The sensing device <NUM> may detect vehicle information, e.g., positions, speeds, accelerations, steering angles, and the like of target vehicles, and a wheel speed of a host vehicle. To this end, the sensing device <NUM> may include an ultrasonic sensor, a radar, a camera, a laser scanner, and/or a corner radar, a lidar, an acceleration sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a torque measurement sensor and/or a wheel speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, a wheel speed sensor, etc..

The input device <NUM> may receive a command for, e.g., activation of the autonomous driving control function, from a user, and may be deactivated when receiving the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function transmitted from the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM>. Accordingly, when receiving the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function, although an autonomous driving control command is inputted from the user, the input device <NUM> prevents the autonomous driving control function from being activated unless the vehicle is restarted. That is, the input device <NUM> may transmit the autonomous driving control command inputted from the user to the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> after the vehicle is restarted, after receiving the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function.

The input device <NUM> may include a key button, and may include a mouse, a joystick, a jog shuttle, a stylus pen, and the like. In addition, the input device <NUM> may include soft keys implemented on the display.

The output device <NUM> may output notifications of, e.g., an activation or deactivation state of the autonomous driving control function, a demand for control authority transition, a message reporting that the autonomous driving control function cannot be reactivated. In addition, the output device <NUM> may provide a notification that the user of the vehicle can sensibly perceive. For example, the output device <NUM> may include a display, a voice output means such as a speaker, and/or a vibration motor. In this case, the display may include at least one of a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), a an organic light emitting diode display (OLED display), a flexible display, a field emission display (FED), and a 3D display. In this case, when a touch sensor formed of a touch film, a touch sheet, or a touch pad is provided on the display, the display may operate as a touch screen, and may be implemented in a form in which an input means and an output means are integrated.

The electronic parking brake control device <NUM> controls engagement of the electronic parking brake device <NUM>.

When receiving a demand for the engagement of the electronic parking brake device <NUM> from the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM>, the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> may determine whether the vehicle is stopped.

When the vehicle is determined to be in a stopped state, the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> may allow the electronic parking brake device <NUM> to be engaged to transmit an engagement completion signal to the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM>.

The electronic parking brake device <NUM> is an electronic parking brake (EPB), which means that the brake is automatically locked when the vehicle is stopped, and then automatically released when the accelerator is depressed to start driving the vehicle. The electronic parking brake device <NUM> may generate a braking force to a parking brake in a manner that a driving motor is driven and a force is transferred to a cable under a control command of the electronic parking brake control device <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary operation of an autonomous driving control apparatus according to an exemplary form of the present invention, showing an operation mechanism for control authority transition notification and minimum risk maneuver driving.

First, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> determines whether the current driving condition is in the limit situation, such as a road environment, vehicle behavior, or user misoperation, in which maintaining functions of lanes and distances between vehicles cannot be properly operated, and notifies the user of the demand for control authority transition when it is determined that the current driving condition is in the limit situation. In this case, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may define a control authority transition demand period as A time (e.g., <NUM>), and may make a setting so as not to accelerate the vehicle during the corresponding period. When the user does not permit the control authority transition within the predetermined time (A time) or immediately after a predetermined time after the limit situation occurs, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> enters a minimum risk maneuver step. The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> continuously demands the control authority transition of the user even in the minimum risk maneuver step. The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> performs deceleration control with a predetermined deceleration (e.g., <NUM>/s<NUM>) during a minimum risk maneuver driving period, and performs stop control within a predetermined B time (e.g., up to <NUM> seconds at the maximum) or immediately.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> demands engagement of the electronic parking brake (EPB) of the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> within a predetermined C time (e.g., <NUM>) or immediately after the minimum risk maneuver driving, and ends the autonomous driving control function when confirming the engagement of the EPB.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary operation of an autonomous driving control apparatus according to an exemplary form of the present invention, showing an EPB engagement operation mechanism when the vehicle stops while the minimum risk maneuver is performed.

First, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> performs the minimum risk maneuver for a predetermined time (e.g., up to <NUM> at the maximum), and decelerates the vehicle to a constant deceleration (e.g., <NUM>/s<NUM>) before the vehicle stops to transmit an EPB activation signal after a predetermined time (e.g., <NUM>) after the vehicle stops.

In this case, when the minimum risk maneuver is started, the signal for reactivation of the autonomous driving control function may be activated, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may transmit the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function to the input device <NUM>, the output device <NUM>, a device related to the autonomous driving control function in the vehicle, and/or the like, and the output device <NUM> may output a guide message to the user that reactivation is not possible before restarting.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> determines whether the vehicle is stopped based on a wheel speed of the vehicle after stop control of the vehicle is performed after the minimum risk maneuver ends, and transmits an EPB activation signal to the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped.

When receiving the EPB activation signal, the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> performs EBP engagement. When the EPB is engaged, the autonomous driving control function ends.

Hereinafter, an autonomous driving control method during minimum risk maneuver driving of a vehicle according to an exemplary form of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4A and FIG.

<FIG> and <FIG> illustrate flowcharts for describing an autonomous driving control method according to an exemplary form of the present invention.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> of the vehicle of <FIG> performs the processes of <FIG> and <FIG>. In addition, in the description of <FIG> and <FIG>, operations described as being performed by the device may be understood as being controlled by the processor <NUM> of the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> of the vehicle.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> determines whether the limit situation has occurred (S102) while performing an autonomous driving control mode (S101). In this case, the limit situation is a situation in which the autonomous driving control function cannot normally operate, and may include, e.g., a situation in which the autonomous driving control function is out of an operating design area.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> demands control authority transition in vertical and horizontal direction such that the user can directly control the driving in the limit situation (S103). Accordingly, when the user permits the control authority transition, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> releases the autonomous driving control mode (S104).

On the other hand, when the user does not permit the control authority transition within a predetermined time (e.g., <NUM>) or immediately despite the limited situation, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> performs the minimum risk maneuver (S105). In this case, the minimum risk maneuver may include performing deceleration at a predetermined speed and stop control.

The autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> transmits the signal for disabling reactivation of the autonomous driving control function after the minimum risk maneuver is started (S106). That is, when the autonomous driving control function is released after the minimum risk maneuver is started, the autonomous driving control function can be activated after the vehicle restarts, so the user can be allowed to recognize this by outputting a notification that the autonomous driving control function cannot be reactivated to the output device <NUM>.

Subsequently, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may continue to determine whether the control authority transition is permitted during the minimum risk maneuver (S107), and may release the autonomous driving control function when the control authority transition is permitted by the user (S108).

On the other hand, when the control authority transition is not permitted by the user even after the minimum risk maneuver is started, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> may continue to execute the minimum risk maneuver to perform vehicle stop control after vehicle deceleration, and may determine whether the vehicle is stopped based on the wheel speed of the vehicle when the minimum risk maneuver ends (S109).

When it is determined that the vehicle is stopped, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> transmits an EPB activation signal to the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> (S110).

Accordingly, when receiving the EPB activation signal (S120), the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> determines whether the vehicle is stopped (S121).

When it is determined that the vehicle is in a stopped state, the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> drives the electronic parking brake device (EPB) <NUM> to perform automatic engagement (S122).

Subsequently, the electronic parking brake control device <NUM> transmits an EPB engagement signal to the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> (S123).

Meanwhile, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> determines whether to perform EPB engagement after transmitting the EPB activation signal in step S110 (S111). That is, the autonomous driving control apparatus <NUM> checks whether the EPB is engaged by using the EPB engagement signal received from the electronic parking brake control device <NUM>, and automatically releases the autonomous driving control function when the EPB engagement is completed (S112).

As described above, in the present invention, an autonomous vehicle determines a risk situation (limit situation) and then demands the control authority transition, and automatically allows the vehicle's electronic parking brake device (EPB) to be engaged and releases the autonomous driving control function when the vehicle is stopped by performing the minimum risk maneuver because the user does not permit the control authority transition.

As such, additional risks that may occur after the autonomous driving control function ends may be prevented by releasing the autonomous driving control function to maintain the vehicle at the stopped state after the EPB is automatically engaged when the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver.

<FIG> illustrates a computing system according to an exemplary form of the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, the computing system <NUM> includes at least one processor <NUM> connected through a bus <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a user interface input device <NUM>, a user interface output device <NUM>, and a storage <NUM>, and a network interface <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor device that performs processing on commands stored in the memory <NUM> and/or the storage <NUM>. The memory <NUM> and the storage <NUM> may include various types of volatile or nonvolatile storage media. For example, the memory <NUM> may include a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

Accordingly, steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the exemplary forms disclosed herein may be directly implemented by hardware, a software module, or a combination of the two, executed by the processor <NUM>. The software module may reside in a storage medium (i.e., the memory <NUM> and/or the storage <NUM>) such as a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, a EPROM memory, a EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, and a CD-ROM.

Claim 1:
A vehicle system comprising:
an electronic parking brake control device (<NUM>) configured to control engagement of an electronic parking brake device (<NUM>) of a vehicle; and
an autonomous driving control apparatus (<NUM>) for a vehicle, comprising:
a processor (<NUM>) configured to:
determine whether a current driving condition of the vehicle is a limit situation during an autonomous driving control, wherein the limit situation is a situation in which the autonomous driving control is disabled based on road information of a road on which the vehicle is running, or sensing information regarding driving conditions of the vehicle,
when the limit situation is determined, demand to transfer a control authority to a user of the vehicle,
when the control authority is not transferred to the user, start a minimum risk maneuver, and
control engagement of the electronic parking brake device (<NUM>) when the vehicle is stopped after the minimum risk maneuver ends; and
a storage (<NUM>) configured to store driving condition data of the vehicle and a set of instructions executed by the processor (<NUM>),
characterised in that
the processor (<NUM>) is further configured to
check whether the electronic parking brake device (<NUM>) is engaged by using an electronic parking brake engagement signal received from the electronic parking brake control device (<NUM>);
automatically release the autonomous driving control function when the electronic parking brake engagement is completed; and
transmit, when the minimum risk maneuver is started, a signal to disable reactivation of the autonomous driving control function, wherein the reactivation of the autonomous driving control is prevented unless the vehicle is restarted.