JP7518614B2 - Route determination method for automobiles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a route determination method for a vehicle. The present invention further relates to an apparatus, a computer program, and a machine-readable storage medium.

DE 10 2013 016 436 A1 discloses a method for operating a safety system of a motor vehicle.
DE 10 2016 218 382 A1 discloses a method and an apparatus for autonomous driving of a vehicle in emergency mode.

DE 10 2017 200 871 A1 discloses cooperative vehicle control.
European Patent Application No. 2 216 197 discloses a method for controlling a driver assistance system and a driver assistance system.

DE 10 2013 016 436 DE 10 2016 218 382 DE 10 2017 200 871 European Patent Application No. 2 216 197

The problem underlying the present invention can be seen as providing a concept for efficiently determining a route for a motor vehicle, based on which the motor vehicle can be guided efficiently, in particular manually and/or at least partly automatically.

This problem is solved by the subject matter of the respective independent claims. Advantageous configurations of the invention are the subject matter of the respective dependent dependent claims.
According to a first aspect, there is provided a route determination method for a vehicle, the method comprising: determining, for at least one route for the vehicle, from a start position to a target position whether, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided at least in part in an automated manner along the at least one route; providing additional information for the at least one route, the additional information indicating whether, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided at least in an automated manner along the at least one route; and outputting a route signal representative of the at least one route for which the additional information has been provided.

According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus configured to perform all the steps of the method according to the first aspect.
According to a third aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, for example by an apparatus according to the second aspect, cause the computer to carry out the method according to the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program according to the third aspect.
The present invention is based on the knowledge that the above problem can be solved by determining, for a route of the vehicle, whether and, if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an at least partially automated manner, along at least one route from a start position to a target position. The result of this determination forms, in particular, additional information that is provided together with the route. This provides, in particular, the technical advantage that the vehicle can be efficiently guided, in particular manually and/or at least in part, in an at least partially automated manner, based on this route.

That is, the driver of the vehicle can know in an advantageous manner before the journey from the start position to the target position whether and, if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along at least one route. This allows the driver to efficiently plan the journey in an advantageous manner.

That is, the concepts described herein go beyond simply determining a route from a start location to a destination location by additionally determining for that route whether, and if so, where and how, the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an automated manner along at least one route.

The expression "at least one route" means "one or more routes". Any action taken in relation to one route is equivalent to that taken in relation to the multiple routes and vice versa.

According to one embodiment, a start position signal representative of a start position of a vehicle is received.
According to one embodiment, a target position signal representative of a target position of a vehicle is received.
According to one embodiment, at least one route is determined based on a start position signal and based on a destination position signal.

The determination of the at least one route is according to one embodiment performed on the basis of a digital map comprising a start position and a destination position.
According to one embodiment, an inquiry signal representative of an inquiry to determine a route from a start location to a target location is received, and in response to receiving the inquiry signal, at least one route from the start location to the target location is determined.

In the case of multiple routes, according to one embodiment, a main route from the start location to the target location is determined, and one or more alternative routes from the start location to the target location are determined. That is, in the case of multiple routes, for example, one of the routes is the main route and one or more of the other routes are the alternative routes.

The additional information, according to one embodiment, includes a determination of whether the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an automated manner along at least one route, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an automated manner along at least one route.

The results, according to one embodiment, indicate that the vehicle is at least partially automated navigable in one section of the route, or in multiple sections, or in the entire route, or that the vehicle is not at least partially automated navigable in any section of the route. If the results indicate that the vehicle is at least partially automated navigable in one or more sections, in particular the results include the location of the corresponding section or sections.

The result, according to one embodiment, indicates that the vehicle needs to be manually guided through one section of the route, or through multiple sections, or through the entire route. If the result indicates that the vehicle needs to be manually guided through one or more sections, in particular, the result includes the location of the corresponding section or sections.

Thus, for example, the driver knows where he needs to drive the car himself and where the car can be guided at least partly automatically.
According to one embodiment, the at least partially automated guidance along at least one route includes remote control of the vehicle using a remote control device external to the vehicle, and/or at least partially automated guidance of the vehicle using a control device internal to the vehicle (particularly without infrastructure assistance), and/or at least partially automated guidance of the vehicle using a control device internal to the vehicle with infrastructure assistance.

This provides the technical advantage, for example, of being able to guide automobiles more efficiently.
That is, according to one embodiment, in particular the route is divided into one or more sections and for each section it is indicated whether the vehicle can be guided at least partly automatically in the section or whether it has to be guided manually. If the vehicle has to be guided manually along the entire route, there is only one section, i.e. the entire route itself. In particular the location of the section is indicated for each section.

Infrastructure-assisted, at least partially automated guidance means that the vehicle is guided in an at least partially automated manner using controls within the vehicle with assistance from the infrastructure. Such assistance may in particular include the transmission of data to the vehicle, based on which the controls within the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner. Such data may, for example, include the following data (alone or in any combination): Ambient data from one or more environmental sensors spatially distributed in the infrastructure; map data of a digital map; weather data indicating the weather, in particular the forecasted weather, along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections; traffic data indicating the traffic conditions, in particular the forecasted traffic conditions, along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections; tolerance data indicating whether and if so, where, how and/or how many vehicles may be guided at least partially automated along the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route; remote control number data indicating the number, in particular the forecast number, of how many vehicles are remotely controlled along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route; infrastructure assistance number data indicating the number, in particular the forecast number, of how many vehicles are infrastructure-assisted and at least partially automated along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route.

That is, the results of the determining step may include: within the section of the route the vehicle needs to be manually guided, or a control device inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner, preferably without infrastructure assistance or with infrastructure assistance, or the vehicle can be remotely controlled using a remote control device outside the vehicle.

That is, for each section of the route or the entire route itself, there are three possible cases:
1. The vehicle must be manually guided, i.e. it cannot be guided in an at least partially automated manner using controls inside the vehicle, preferably with or without infrastructure assistance, and cannot be remotely controlled using a remote control outside the vehicle.

2. The vehicle can be guided, at least in part, automatically by controls inside the vehicle, preferably with or without infrastructure assistance.
3. The vehicle can be remotely controlled using a remote control device outside the vehicle.

According to one embodiment, the determination of whether and, if so, where and how the vehicle may be guided at least in part in an automated manner along at least one route is based on weather data indicative of weather, in particular forecasted weather, along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections, and/or on traffic data indicative of traffic conditions, in particular forecasted traffic conditions, along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections, and/or on whether the vehicle may be guided at least in part in an automated manner along the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route, Based on permission data indicating the permission of where, how and/or how many vehicles may be guided along the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route, in an at least partially automated manner, if any, and/or based on remote control number data indicating the number, in particular the forecast number, of how many vehicles will be remotely controlled along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route, and/or based on infrastructure assisted number data indicating the number, in particular the forecast number, of how many vehicles will be infrastructure assisted and at least partially automated along at least a portion of the route, in particular along one or more of the above-mentioned sections of the route.

This may provide technical advantages, such as allowing decisions to be made more efficiently.
In a further embodiment, for at least one route it is determined whether an at least partially automated service can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route and, if so, where and which at least partially automated service or services can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route, in particular under what conditions, and the additional information indicates whether an at least partially automated service can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route and, if so, where and which at least partially automated service or services can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route, in particular under what conditions.

This provides the technical advantage, for example, that the decision can be made efficiently. Furthermore, this provides the technical advantage, for example, that a driver of a vehicle can efficiently know whether at least partially automated services are available for the vehicle, and if so, where and which at least partially automated services are available for the vehicle.

According to one embodiment, the conditions include that the latency of the service is less than or equal to a predetermined latency, and/or that the utilization rate of the service is less than or equal to a predetermined utilization rate threshold, and/or that the price of the service is less than or equal to a predetermined price, and/or that the desired execution time of the service execution is less than or equal to a predetermined execution time threshold.

Whether the service can be provided depends, for example, on a desired departure time from a start location, and/or a desired arrival time at a target location, and/or a fastest route from a start location to a target location, and/or a maximum duration of an at least partially automated and guided trip (with or without infrastructure assistance), and/or at least one optimization parameter (e.g., indicating that the service is available if the departure time is later than the desired departure time).

According to one embodiment, the one or more services are each an element selected from the following group of services: parking, washing, refueling, carrying out repairs, carrying out maintenance.
This provides the technical advantage that, for example, services related to the vehicle are used in the decision step.

In one embodiment, temporally after the output of the route signal, a reservation signal and/or booking signal is received, representing a reservation and/or booking for remote control of the motor vehicle and/or for infrastructure assisted guidance of the motor vehicle and/or for at least one of the provided services, and in response to receiving the reservation signal and/or booking signal, the remote control and/or the infrastructure assisted guidance and/or the at least one of the provided services is reserved and/or booked.

This provides the technical advantage of, for example, efficiently ensuring that vehicles can be guided along a route as desired.
The reservation or booking, according to one embodiment, includes an indication of which one or more of the aforementioned sections in which remote control of the vehicle is available for such a remote control should be reserved or booked.

The reservation or booking, according to one embodiment, includes an indication of which one or more of the aforementioned sections in which infrastructure assisted guidance of the vehicle is available should be reserved or booked for such infrastructure assisted guidance.

Reservations or bookings can advantageously improve the technical performance of the device to perform services (infrastructure-assisted guidance, remote control, services).

According to one embodiment, one or more decision steps are optimized with learning over time, in particular self-learning.
This may provide a technical advantage, for example, in allowing one or more decision steps to be efficiently optimized.

For this optimization, according to one embodiment, the above and/or below mentioned data or instructions or signals used to carry out one or more steps are used.
In one embodiment, a constraint signal is received representing at least one constraint for the journey of the vehicle from a start location to a target location, and one or more decision steps are performed based on the constraint signal, the at least one constraint being an element selected from the following constraint group: time, cost, speed, fastest or shortest route, desired departure time, desired arrival time, maximum duration of the at least partially automated guided journey.

This may provide a technical advantage, for example, in allowing one or more decision steps to be performed efficiently.
The constraint signal is, for example, included in the inquiry signal.

The expression "at least partially automated control or guidance" includes the following: partially automated control or guidance, highly automated control or guidance, fully automated control or guidance, driverless control or guidance, and remote control of a motor vehicle.

Partially automated control or guidance means automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance of a vehicle in certain application cases (e.g. driving on a highway, driving in a parking lot, overtaking objects, driving within lanes specified by lane markings). The driver of the vehicle does not have to manually control the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle himself. However, the driver must continuously monitor the automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance so that he can intervene manually if necessary.

Highly automated control or guidance means automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance of a vehicle in certain application cases (e.g. driving on a highway, driving in a parking lot, overtaking objects, driving within a lane designated by lane markings). The driver of the vehicle does not have to manually control the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle himself. The driver does not have to continuously monitor the automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance so that he can intervene manually if necessary. If necessary, a takeover request is automatically output to the driver to take over control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance. That is, the driver must be in a state where he can potentially take over control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance.

Fully automated control or guidance means automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance of a vehicle in certain application cases (e.g. driving on a highway, driving in a parking lot, overtaking objects, driving within a lane designated by lane markings). The driver of the vehicle does not need to manually control the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle himself. The driver does not need to supervise the automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance so that he can intervene manually if necessary. In certain application cases, a driver is not required.

Driverless control or guidance means automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle, independent of the specific application case (e.g. driving on a highway, driving in a parking lot, overtaking objects, driving in a lane specified by lane markings). The driver of the vehicle does not have to manually control the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle himself. The driver does not have to monitor the automatic control of the longitudinal and lateral guidance so that he can intervene manually if necessary. The longitudinal and lateral guidance of the vehicle is thus automatically controlled, for example, in all road types, speed ranges and environmental conditions. The entire driving task of the driver is thus automatically taken over. A driver is therefore no longer necessary, i.e. the vehicle can be driven from any starting position to any target position without the driver. Potential problems are solved automatically, i.e. without the assistance of the driver.

Remote control of a vehicle means that the lateral and longitudinal guidance of the vehicle is remotely controlled, i.e., that remote control signals are sent to the vehicle for remotely controlling the lateral and longitudinal guidance. The remote control is, for example, performed by a remote control device outside the vehicle.

The abbreviation "bzw." stands for "or."
The term "bzw." specifically means "respective."

The term "or" specifically means and/or.
According to one embodiment, the method according to the first aspect is a computer-implemented method.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and explained in more detail in the following description.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of an embodiment of the method according to the first aspect. FIG. 1 shows an apparatus configured to perform all the steps of the method according to the first aspect. FIG. 1 illustrates a machine-readable storage medium. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing two routes from a start position to a target position.

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of one embodiment of the method according to the first aspect.
According to step 101, a query signal is received which represents a query to determine a route for a vehicle from a start location to a destination location.

According to step 103, at least one route for the vehicle from the start location to the target location is determined in response to receiving the interrogation signal.
According to step 105, determining whether the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along at least one route, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along at least one route, and providing additional information for the at least one route, the additional information indicating whether the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the at least one route, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the at least one route.

According to step 107, additional information is provided to at least one route.
According to step 109, a route signal representative of at least one route provided with additional information is output.

According to one embodiment, at least one route is divided into sections and for each section it is indicated whether the vehicle can be guided at least partially automatically within the section or whether it needs to be guided manually.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus 201 arranged to carry out all the steps of the method according to the first aspect.
The device 201 comprises an input 203 configured to receive the above-mentioned interrogation signal. The device 201 further comprises a processor 205 configured to perform the above-mentioned decision steps. The device 201 comprises an output 207 configured to output the above-mentioned route signal.

The signals or data received by the device 201 are in particular received entirely by an input 203, which is in particular correspondingly configured for this purpose.
The signal output by the device 201 is output in particular via an output 327. The output 207 is designed in particular accordingly for this purpose.

Thus, the input 203 or the output 207 are adapted to receive or output corresponding signals or data.
According to one embodiment, instead of one processor 205, multiple processors are provided.

FIG. 3 shows a machine-readable storage medium 301 .
A computer program 303 is stored on a machine-readable storage medium 301. The computer program 303 comprises instructions which, when the computer program 303 is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to the first aspect.

FIG. 4 shows two routes for a vehicle from a start location 405 to a target location 407: a first route 401 and a second route 403 .
For each route 401, 403, a determination is made as to whether a vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the respective route 401, 403, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the respective route 401, 403, and additional information is provided for the respective route 401, 403, the additional information indicating whether a vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the respective route 401, 403, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along the respective route 401, 403.

The respective consequences of this decision in this case are, for example, as follows:
The first route 401 is divided sequentially in layout into a first section 409 , a second section 411 , a third section 413 , a fourth section 415 , and a fifth section 417 .

In the first section 409, the vehicle must be manually guided. In the second section 411, a control device inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner. In the third section 413, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by a remote control device outside the vehicle. In the fourth section 415, a control device inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner, assisted by the infrastructure. In the fifth section 415, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by a remote control device outside the vehicle.

The second route 403 is divided in sequence into a sixth section 419, a seventh section 421, an eighth section 423, a ninth section 425, a tenth section 427, an eleventh section 429, a twelfth section 431 and a thirteenth section 433.

In the sixth section 419, the vehicle must be manually guided. In the seventh section 421, a control inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner. In the eighth section 423, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by a remote control outside the vehicle. In the ninth section 425, the vehicle must be manually guided. In the tenth section 427, a control inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner. In the eleventh section 429, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by a remote control outside the vehicle. In the twelfth section 431, a control inside the vehicle can guide the vehicle in an at least partially automated manner, assisted by the infrastructure. In the thirteenth section 433, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by a remote control outside the vehicle.

Both routes 401, 403 are offered for selection to, for example, a motor vehicle operator.
At the target location 407 there is a parking lot 435 configured for performing at least partially automated parking of the vehicle.

In one embodiment not shown, for each of the routes 401, 403, it is determined whether at least partially automated services can be provided to vehicles along the respective route 401, 403 and, if so, where and which at least partially automated service or services can be provided to vehicles along the respective route 401, 403, in particular under what conditions, and the additional information indicates whether at least partially automated services can be provided to vehicles along the at least one route and, if so, where and which at least partially automated services can be provided to vehicles along the at least one route, in particular under what conditions.

The additional information in this case includes, for example, the corresponding services.
In summary, the concepts described herein are based on determining, for a route for a vehicle from a start location to a destination location, whether the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, autonomously along the route, and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, autonomously along the route.

201 Device 203 Input side 205 Processor 207 Output side 301 Machine-readable storage medium 303 Computer program 401, 403 Route 405 Start position 407 Target position 409, 411, 413, 415, 417, 419, 421, 423, 425, 427, 429, 431, 433 Section 435 Parking lot

Claims (10)

A computer-implemented method for determining a route (401, 403) for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
determining (101) for at least one route (401, 403) of the vehicle from a start location (405) to a target location (407), whether the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an automated manner along the at least one route (401, 403), and if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided, at least in part, in an automated manner along the at least one route (401, 403) ;
providing (107) said at least one route (401, 403 ) and further information indicative of whether and, if so, where and how said vehicle can be guided in an at least partially automated manner along said at least one route (401, 403);
outputting (109) a route signal representative of said at least one route (401, 403) and said additional information to a driver of said vehicle .
In the method,
said determining (101) being performed based on infrastructure-assisted count data indicative of a count or a forecast count of how many vehicles will be infrastructure-assisted and at least partially automated guided along at least a portion of said route (401, 403);
Method. determining, for said at least one route (401, 403), whether at least partially automated services can be provided to said vehicle along said at least one route (401, 403), and if so, where and which at least partially automated service or services can be provided to said vehicle along said at least one route (401, 403);
the additional information indicating whether at least partially automated services can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route (401, 403) and, if so, where and which at least partially automated services can be provided to the vehicle along the at least one route (401, 403).
The method of claim 1. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more services are each an element selected from the following group of services: parking, washing, refueling, performing repairs, performing maintenance. said at least partially automated guidance along said at least one route (401, 403) comprising remote control of said vehicle using a remote control device external to said vehicle and/or at least partially automated guidance of said vehicle using a control device internal to said vehicle and/or infrastructure assisted at least partially automated guidance of said vehicle using a control device internal to said vehicle;
temporally after the output of the route signal, a reservation signal and/or booking signal is received, which is representative of a reservation and/or booking for remote control of the motor vehicle and/or for infrastructure assisted guidance of the motor vehicle and/or for at least one offered service, and in response to said reception of said reservation signal and/or booking signal, the remote control and/or the infrastructure assisted guidance and/or the at least one offered service are reserved and/or booked.
The method according to claim 2 or 3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least partially automated guidance along the at least one route (401, 403) comprises remote control of the vehicle using a remote control device external to the vehicle, and/or at least partially automated guidance of the vehicle using a control device internal to the vehicle, and/or infrastructure-assisted at least partially automated guidance of the vehicle using a control device internal to the vehicle. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the determination of whether and, if so, where and how the vehicle can be guided at least partially in an automated manner along the at least one route (401, 403) is performed based on weather data indicative of weather or forecasted weather along at least a portion of the route (401, 403), and/or based on traffic data indicative of traffic conditions or forecasted traffic conditions along at least a portion of the route (401, 403), and/or based on permission data indicative of permission of whether and, if so, where, how and/or how many vehicles may be guided at least partially in an automated manner along the route (401, 403), and/or based on remote control number data indicative of the number or forecast number of how many vehicles are remotely controlled along at least a portion of the route (401, 403). The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a constraint signal is received representing at least one constraint for the journey of the vehicle from the start position (405) to the target position (407), and one or more of the decisions (101) are performed based on the constraint signal, and the at least one constraint is an element selected from the following constraint groups: time, cost, speed, fastest or shortest route, desired departure time, desired arrival time, maximum duration of at least partially automated guided travel. An apparatus (201) configured to perform all steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A computer program (303) including commands that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A machine-readable storage medium (301) on which the computer program (303) according to claim 9 is stored.

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