KR20150022168A - Apparatus and method for controlling automatic steering - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention proposes an automatic steering control apparatus and method in which an acceleration device and a deceleration device in a traffic congestion section are controlled by a driver and an in-vehicle ECU automatically controls a steering device. The automatic steering control apparatus according to the present invention includes: a congestion section discrimination unit for discriminating whether a road section on which a vehicle is traveling is a congestion section; And a steering device controller for automatically controlling the steering apparatus mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle when the road section is determined to be a congestion section.

Description

[0001] Apparatus and method for controlling automatic steering [0002]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for automatically controlling a steering apparatus of a vehicle.

In the SCC (Smart Cruise Control) system, a long-distance radar sensor is used to detect the vehicle ahead, and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) for braking control and EMS (Engine Management System) / Deceleration and stop slow control. However, since radar sensors and ESC are very expensive, they are applied only to medium and large vehicles.

Recently, a Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) system has been proposed as a function that is linked to SCC. The TJA system automatically performs acceleration / deceleration control in stop and slow conditions, and the driver operates only the steering wheel. That is, the driver operates the steering wheel to maintain the lane and the acceleration / deceleration control is automatically performed in the vehicle.

However, when the cruise control is suspended, the driver does not operate the brake and the accelerator pedal, but the driver feels fatigued by putting his hand on the steering wheel to follow the forward vehicle and to drive in the lane. Also, since it is difficult to drive automatically due to problems such as detection of stationary objects, the driver must step on the accelerator pedal when starting after stopping. In addition, because of precise braking pressure control and durability due to frequent operation, the cost of the system is increased by using expensive braking actuators (ESC).

U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009-0299598 describes an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system. In this system, when the driver activates in the traffic congestion section, the vehicle is repeatedly stopped and slowed down. When the vehicle leaves the lane or the road is a curved road, the driver directly steers the vehicle so that the lane is maintained. That is, since the system maintains the inter-vehicle distance automatically, the driver can take his / her foot off the excel and the brake pedal, but the above-described problem can not be solved because the steering wheel must be operated at all times.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic steering control apparatus and method in which an accelerator and a decelerator are controlled by a driver and an ECU in a vehicle automatically controls a steering apparatus in a traffic congestion period The purpose.

However, the objects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is conceived to achieve the above-mentioned object, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a congestion zone discrimination unit for discriminating whether a road segment on which a vehicle is traveling is a congestion zone. And a steering device controller for automatically controlling the steering device mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle when the road section is determined to be the congestion section.

Preferably, the congestion zone determination unit determines whether the road zone is the congestion zone by analyzing the vehicle forward image, or determines whether the road zone is the congestion zone by comparing the current speed of the vehicle with the reference speed do.

Preferably, the idle section determining unit determines the road section as the idle section when the number of the preceding vehicles is equal to or greater than the reference number in the vehicle front image when analyzing and discriminating the vehicle front image, When the current speed is less than the reference speed when the reference speed is compared and discriminated, the road section is determined as the congestion section.

Preferably, the automatic steering control apparatus further includes a mobility decider for discriminating whether the road section is a stagnant section during a predetermined time after the road section is identified as the stagnant section; And a steering device control canceling unit for canceling control of the steering apparatus if the road section is determined to be the stagnant solving section.

Preferably, the stagnant solving / distinguishing section uses at least one of a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, a radar sensor for sensing at least one of the vehicles, and a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle, .

Preferably, when the number of the preceding vehicles is less than a reference number in the vehicle front image acquired by the camera when the camera is used for discrimination, the stall resolution discriminating section discriminates the road section as the stagnant resolution section, When the time taken for the signal outputted by the radar sensor to be reflected and returned when the radar sensor is discriminated is longer than the reference time, the road section is discriminated as the stagnant solving section and discriminated by using the vehicle speed sensor If the current speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor exceeds the reference speed, the road section is determined as the stagnant rescue period.

Preferably, the automatic steering control device detects a torque signal generated in accordance with the rotation of the steering apparatus at predetermined time intervals after the road section is determined as the stagnant section and determines whether the driver of the vehicle is willing to drive A driver's intention determining unit for determining the driver's intention; And a steering device control releasing unit that releases control of the steering apparatus if the driver is determined to have the driver's intention.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of determining a congestion state of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether a road segment on which the vehicle is traveling is a congestion section; And a steering device control step of automatically controlling the steering device mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle if the road section is determined to be the congestion section.

Preferably, the step of determining the congestion section comprises the steps of: determining whether the road segment is the congestion segment by analyzing the vehicle forward image; comparing the current speed of the vehicle with a reference speed to determine whether the road segment is the congestion segment; .

Preferably, the stagnant section determining step determines the road segment as the stagnant section when the number of the preceding vehicles is equal to or greater than a reference number in the vehicle front image when the vehicle front image is analyzed and discriminated, If the current speed is less than the reference speed when the reference speed is compared and discriminated, the road section is determined as the congestion section.

Preferably, after the steering apparatus control step, it is determined whether or not the road section is a stagnant section during a predetermined time after the road section is determined to be the stagnant section. And a first steering device control releasing step of releasing control of the steering apparatus if the road section is determined to be the stagnant solving section, Determining whether the driver of the vehicle has a driver's will by detecting a torque signal generated in accordance with the rotation of the driver; And a second steering device control releasing step of releasing the control of the steering apparatus if the driver is determined to have the driving intention.

Preferably, the stagnant deciding step may include using at least one of a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, a radar sensor for sensing at least one of the vehicles, and a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle, Whether it is a section or not.

Preferably, when the number of the preceding vehicles is less than a reference number in the vehicle front image acquired by the camera when the camera is used for the determination of the stagnation, the stall resolution determination step determines the road section as the stagnant resolution section, Wherein when the time taken for the signal outputted from the radar sensor to be reflected and returned when the radar sensor is discriminated by the radar sensor is longer than a reference time, the road section is determined as the stagnant resolution section, If the current speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor exceeds the reference speed, the road section is determined as the stagnant rescue period.

In the present invention, the accelerator and the decelerating device are controlled by the driver in the traffic congestion section, and the in-vehicle ECU automatically controls the steering device to obtain the following effects.

First, the driver's driving load can be reduced.

Second, since the driver is free of both hands, convenience can be improved, and there is also an advantage that the system can be configured using only a relatively low cost front camera.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a cruise control system including an automatic steering control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of an automatic steering control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a reference diagram for explaining an automatic steering control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic steering control method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components throughout the drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. In addition, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but it is needless to say that the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto and can be variously modified by those skilled in the art.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for reducing a driving load of a driver through automatic steering during a traffic congestion on a vehicle-dedicated road. This system has the effect of reducing the operating load by only operating the accelerator and brake, i.e., acceleration / deceleration, and automatically performing the steering control by the driver. In addition, since the system is free of both hands of the driver, convenience can be improved, and the system can be configured using only a relatively low-cost front camera.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a cruise control system including an automatic steering control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the automatic steering controller and the automatic steering controller are used in the following description.

When traffic congestion occurs on a motorway, the driver's fatigue is increased by repeated acceleration / deceleration and steering. Since the steering wheel must be operated to keep the distance between the cars while keeping the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle, the steering wheel must be operated so as not to deviate from the lane. Therefore, fatigue of the shoulder, ankle and the like is increased when the vehicle stays for a long time.

The system 100 proposed in the present invention allows the driver to operate only the brake pedal and the accelerator by automatically operating the steering in the stop slowdown section.

The vehicle sensor 110 includes a long-range radar sensor for front vehicle sensing.

The automatic steering controller 120 controls the acceleration / deceleration and the stopping slowdown for maintaining the inter-vehicle distance.

The automatic steering controller 120 includes an ESC (Electronic Stability Control) device and an EMS (Engine Management System) device. The automatic steering controller 120 performs braking control with an ESC device (electronic braking device) do.

The MDPS (Motor Driven Power Steering) system 130 performs a function of automatically controlling the steering apparatus under the control of the automatic steering controller 120.

3, the cruise control system 100 according to the present invention uses the vehicle sensor 110, the automatic steering controller 120, and the MDPS system 130 described above to generate an automatic steering TJA (Traffic Jam Assist) can be implemented. The automatic steering TJA means that the acceleration / deceleration control is performed by the driver and the steering wheel control for lane keeping is performed by the in-vehicle system as shown in Fig. 3 (a). 3 (b) shows a process in which the MDPS system 130 carries out automatic steering control under the control of the automatic steering controller 120.

Next, the automatic steering controller 120 will be described in more detail. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of an automatic steering control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2, the automatic steering controller 120 includes a stagnant region determining unit 121 and a steering apparatus controller 122. [

The congestion section discriminating section 121 performs a function of discriminating whether the road section on which the vehicle is traveling is a congestion section.

The congestion section determining unit 121 may analyze the forward image of the vehicle to determine whether the road segment is a congestion period. When the number of preceding vehicles is equal to or greater than the reference number in the vehicle front image, the congestion section discriminating section 121 can discriminate the road section as the congestion section.

The congestion section determining unit 121 can compare the current speed of the vehicle with the reference speed to determine whether the road segment is a congestion period. When the current speed is lower than the reference speed, the congestion section discrimination unit 121 can discriminate the road segment as the congestion section when comparing the current speed of the vehicle with the reference speed.

The steering apparatus control unit 122 performs a function of automatically controlling the steering apparatus mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle when the road section is determined to be a congestion section.

The automatic steering controller 120 may further include a stagnation cancellation determination unit 123, a driving determination unit 125, a steering device control canceling unit 124, and the like. In the present embodiment, the automatic steering controller 120 may include both the stagnation cancellation determination unit 123 and the drive determination unit 125, but may include either of them.

The congestion cancellation determining unit 123 performs a function of determining whether the road segment is a congestion cancellation period at predetermined time intervals after the road segment is determined to be congested.

The stagnation cancellation determination unit 123 determines whether or not the road section is a stagnant section using at least one of a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, a radar sensor for sensing at least one of the vehicles, and a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle Can be distinguished.

In the case of discrimination using a camera, the congestion cancellation discrimination unit 123 can discriminate the road segment as the congestion elimination period if the number of the preceding vehicles in the vehicle front image obtained by the camera is less than the reference number.

In the case of discrimination using the radar sensor, the stagnation resolution discrimination unit 123 can discriminate the road segment as the stagnation resolution period if the time taken for the signal output by the radar sensor to reflect and return is longer than the reference time.

When the current speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor exceeds the reference speed, the stall resolution discriminating unit 123 can discriminate the road segment as a stagnation canceling period.

The driver's operation determination unit 125 detects a torque signal generated according to the rotation of the steering apparatus at predetermined time intervals after the road section is determined to be a congestion section and performs a function of determining whether the driver of the vehicle has a driver's will .

At this time, the driver's operation determination unit 125 may detect the torque signal using a torque sensor attached on the coupling member that mechanically connects the steering device and the steering column assembly.

In the cruise control system 100 according to the present invention, a torque sensor is mounted between a steering wheel and a steering column assembly. The steering column assembly is mechanically connected to the steering wheel, and the MDPS motor is assisted. The steering column assembly and the gear box are connected by a universal joint.

The steering device control releasing section 124 performs the function of releasing the control of the steering apparatus when it is determined that the road section is determined to be the stagnant solving section or the driver is determined to have the driving intention.

When it is determined that the driver has no intention to drive, the driver's operation determination unit 125 calculates a command value for automatic steering release. Then, the drive determination section 125 transmits the command value calculated using the CAN communication to the steering device control release section 124. [ The steering device control releasing section 124 generates a value for releasing automatic steering operation and outputs the value to the MDPS motor. The MDPS motor is then deactivated, so that the gears housed in the gearbox are also deactivated and the automatic steering can be released.

Next, an automatic steering control method of the automatic steering control device 120 will be described. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic steering control method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The following description refers to Fig. 2 and Fig.

First, the congestion zone determination unit 121 detects a preceding vehicle (= a preceding vehicle) (S310) and determines whether the road zone on which the vehicle is traveling is a congestion zone (S320). The congestion zone determination unit 121 determines a congestion zone through a front camera sensor mounted on the vehicle and informs the driver that the system is operable through the HMI.

If the road section is determined as a congestion section, the driver activates the system by applying the automatic steering TJA button (S330). Then, the steering apparatus control section 122 automatically controls the steering apparatus mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected front vehicle (S340).

Thereafter, the stall resolution determining unit 123 determines whether the road segment is a stagnant resolution period at a predetermined time (S360). If it is determined that the road section is a stagnant solution section, the steering apparatus control releasing section 124 cancels the control of the steering apparatus (S370).

In operation S340, the drive determination unit 125 may detect a torque signal generated in accordance with the rotation of the steering device at predetermined time intervals to determine whether the driver of the vehicle is willing to drive (S350). At this time, if it is determined that the driver is willing to drive, the steering apparatus control releasing unit 124 can release the control of the steering apparatus (S370).

The driver is informed that the automatic steering operation is to be canceled when the vehicle speed is high and the congestion is solved, the front vehicle can not be detected, or other normal operation is impossible. When the driver operates the steering wheel, or when the release button is pressed during operation, the control is released. The steering intention of the driver can be determined according to whether or not the column torque filtering value is out of a certain range.

The system according to the present invention described above can achieve the following effects.

First, maintenance of the lane and follow-up of the preceding vehicle can be smoothly performed through the automatic steering control in the congestion section, and the driver can perform the stop and the slow travel by operating only the accelerator and the brake pedal without operating the steering wheel, The burden can be alleviated.

Second, it is possible to realize the system by using precise braking pressure control, durable ESC actuator with high price, front camera capable of front vehicle detection without front long-range radar, and MDPS. It is possible.

Fourth, it can be expected to improve the marketability as a low-cost active driver assistance system.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and all elements constituting the embodiment of the present invention described above are described as being combined or operated in one operation. That is, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively coupled to one or more of them. In addition, although all of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, some or all of the components may be selectively combined to perform a part or all of the functions in one or a plurality of hardware. As shown in FIG. In addition, such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable medium such as a USB memory, a CD disk, a flash memory, etc., and read and executed by a computer to implement an embodiment of the present invention. As the recording medium of the computer program, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, a carrier wave medium, and the like can be included.

Furthermore, all terms including technical or scientific terms have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined in the Detailed Description. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, substitutions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. will be. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention and the accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate and not to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments and the accompanying drawings . The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

A congestion section discrimination section for discriminating whether a road section on which the vehicle is traveling is a congestion section; And
And a steering device controller for automatically controlling a steering device mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle when the road section is determined to be the congestion section,
Wherein the automatic steering control device includes: The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the idle section discriminator discriminates whether the road section is the idle section by analyzing the vehicle front image or discriminates whether the road section is the idle section by comparing the current speed of the vehicle with the reference speed, The automatic steering control device. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein when the number of the preceding vehicles is equal to or greater than a reference number in the vehicle front image, the congestion section discrimination section discriminates the road section as the congestion section, and compares the current speed with the reference speed And determines that the road segment is the congestion segment if the current speed is less than the reference speed. The method according to claim 1,
A mobility decider for discriminating whether or not the road section is a stationary settlement period at a predetermined time after the road section is determined as the congestion section; And
And a steering device control releasing part for releasing the control of the steering device if the road section is determined as the stagnation-
And an automatic steering control device for controlling the automatic steering control device. 5. The method of claim 4,
The stagnation elimination discrimination section discriminates whether or not the road section is the stagnant settlement section by using at least one of a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, a radar sensor for sensing at least one of the vehicles, and a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle Wherein the automatic steering control device comprises: 6. The method of claim 5,
The stagnant cancellation discrimination unit discriminates the road segment as the stagnant rescue period when the number of the preceding vehicles is less than the reference number in the vehicle front image acquired by the camera when the stadium is discriminated using the camera, And when it is determined that the signal output from the radar sensor is reflected by the radar sensor and the return time is longer than the reference time, the road section is determined as the stagnant resolution section, And determines that the road section is the stagnant rescue period if the current speed sensed by the road speed sensor exceeds the reference speed. The method according to claim 1,
A driving determination unit for determining whether the driver of the vehicle has a driver's intention by detecting a torque signal generated according to the rotation of the steering apparatus at predetermined time intervals after the road section is determined as the congestion section; And
When the driver is determined to have the driver's intention, the steering device control canceling unit
And an automatic steering control device for controlling the automatic steering control device. A congestion section discrimination step of discriminating whether a road section on which the vehicle is traveling is a congestion section; And
A steering apparatus control step of automatically controlling the steering apparatus mounted on the vehicle so as to follow the selected preceding vehicle when the road section is determined as the congestion section
And an automatic steering control method. 9. The method of claim 8,
The step of determining the congestion section may include analyzing the vehicle front image to determine whether the road segment is the congestion segment or comparing the current speed of the vehicle with the reference speed to determine whether the road segment is the congestion segment Of the steering angle. 9. The method of claim 8,
Determining whether the road section is a stationary settlement period at a predetermined time after the road section is determined as the congestion section; And
A first steering device control releasing step of releasing the control of the steering apparatus if the road section is determined to be the stagnant solving section
, ≪ / RTI >
Determining whether the driver of the vehicle has a driver's intention by detecting a torque signal generated according to the rotation of the steering apparatus at a predetermined time after the road section is determined as the congestion section; And
A second steering device control releasing step of releasing the control of the steering device if the driver is determined to have the driving intention
Further comprising the step of:

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