US-12617425-B2 - Method for operating an assistance system, and assistance system

US12617425B2US 12617425 B2US12617425 B2US 12617425B2US-12617425-B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating an assistance system for a vehicle, including a control device for controlling the assistance system, multiple sensors for capturing the environment, a first sensor set which includes at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, and a second sensor set which includes at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment. The sensor signals of the first sensor set are enlisted in order to create an environmental model, and driving functions of the assistance system are carried out on the basis of the environmental model. A sensor signal path switch is provided which switches the sensor signals of the second sensor set either via a main path to the signal processing of the environmental model or via a safety path to the signal processing of a plausibility check of the planned trajectory.

Inventors

Frank Edling
Sebastien Reisinger
Henrik Matschat

Assignees

AUMOVIO AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY GERMANY GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220318
Priority Date: 20210409

Claims (9)

1 . A method for operating an assistance system for a vehicle, comprising controlling the assistance system by a control device comprising a processor or electronic control unit, capturing the environment by multiple sensors, wherein a first sensor set which comprises at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, and a second sensor set which comprises at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, wherein enlisting sensor signals of the first sensor set in order to create an environmental model, carrying out at least one of trajectory planning or driving functions of the assistance system on the basis of the environmental model, and routing, by a sensor signal path switch, sensor signals of the second sensor set either via a main path to signal processing of the environmental model or via a safety path to the signal processing of a plausibility check of the planned trajectory, providing a mode manager which is configured to recognize assistance functions and assistance functions to be automatically activated, and to establish a necessity of whether the safety path is required or not on the basis of the recognized assistance functions.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor signal path switch switches the sensor signals on the basis of establishment of the mode manager.
3 . A method for operating an assistance system for a vehicle according to claim 1 , the method comprising: determining the assistance functions to be carried out, determining the assistance functions to be automatically activated, establishing a necessity of constructing a safety path for the activated functions, switching off the signals of the sensors of the safety path for the main path of the system if the safety path is necessary, activating the safety path in order to check outputs of the main path of the system if the safety path is necessary, and deactivating the assistance functions which are not possible without the sensors of the safety path.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the necessity of constructing the safety path for the activated functions is established on the basis of the activated function of a current vehicle state.
5 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the necessity of constructing the safety path for the activated functions is established on the basis of a driver state.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the safety path is used in order to check a plausibility of an output trajectory of the main path, which is to be driven, against an alternative road model of the safety path.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the safety path is used in order to bring about a driver handover and a minimum-risk state in the event of a trajectory of the main path is implausible.
8 . An assistance system which is operated by a method according to claim 1 , comprising: the control device for controlling the assistance system, the multiple sensors for capturing the environment, wherein the first sensor set which comprises the at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, and the second sensor set which comprises the at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, wherein the sensor signals of the first sensor set are enlisted in order to create the environmental model, the at least one of the trajectory planning or the driving functions of the assistance system us carried out on the basis of the environmental model, and the sensor signal path switch, which switches the sensor signals of the second sensor set either via the main path to the signal processing of the environmental model or via the safety path to the signal processing of the plausibility check of the planned trajectory.
9 . A method for operating an assistance system for a vehicle, comprising controlling the assistance system by a control device comprising a processor or electronic control unit, capturing the environment by multiple sensors, wherein a first sensor set which comprises at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, and a second sensor set which comprises at least one sensor of the sensors for capturing the environment, wherein enlisting sensor signals of the first sensor set in order to create an environmental model, carrying out at least one of trajectory planning or driving functions of the assistance system on the basis of the environmental model, and routing, by a sensor signal path switch, sensor signals of the second sensor set either via a main path to signal processing of the environmental model or via a safety path to the signal processing of a plausibility check of the planned trajectory, wherein a road model of the safety path is created on the basis of detected lane markings of a redundant camera.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/DE2022/200046 filed on Mar. 18, 2022, and claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10 2021 203 541.8 filed on Apr. 9, 2021, in the German Patent and Trademark Office, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a method for operating an assistance system according to claim 1 as well as an assistance system. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle which has an assistance system according to the present disclosure, as well as a computer program for carrying out the method and a transportable computer-readable storage medium on which the computer program for carrying out the method is stored. BACKGROUND Generic vehicles such as, e.g., passenger cars, trucks or motorcycles, are increasingly being equipped with assistance systems or driver assistance systems which, with the aid of sensor systems, can capture the surroundings, recognize traffic situations and assist the driver, e.g., by a braking or steering intervention or by outputting a visual, haptic or acoustic warning. Radar sensors, lidar sensors, camera sensors, ultrasonic sensors or the like are regularly deployed as sensor systems for capturing the surroundings. Conclusions can subsequently be drawn about the surroundings from the sensor data ascertained by the sensors, with which, e.g., a so-called environmental model can also be generated. Based thereon, instructions for warning/informing the driver or for regulated steering, braking and acceleration can subsequently be output. Assistance functions which process the sensor and environmental data can avoid, e.g., accidents with other road users or can facilitate complicated driving maneuvers by assisting with, or even completely taking over (in a partially or fully automated manner), the driving task or the vehicle control. For example, the vehicle can adjust the speed and the manner in which the vehicle follows a vehicle driving ahead, e.g., by means of an Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Automatic Emergency Brake (AEB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) or a steering assistant to keep the vehicle in the lane (LKA, Lane Keep Assist). There are assistance functions such as EBA which, as a general rule, are automatically activated or activate automatic interventions, or assistance functions which the driver activates, as a general rule, such as, e.g., ACC. As a general rule, generic assistance systems have a static architecture in accordance with the “Sense-Plan-Act” principle, in which the various sensors feed data into a central control unit (ECU—Electric Control Unit) which then creates a central “environmental model,” The “environmental model” is then connected to a “driving function” (maneuver planning, trajectory planning) and then feeds the required data into a motion control module on the central control unit. The output of the central control unit is then connected to various actuators (braking system, steering system, drive train) in order to carry out the driving function. The sensor architecture is static. However, if redundancy is required, a set of sensors (a so-called sensor set) is used for the so-called “main path” of the control function (e.g., a first camera which is enlisted for keeping the vehicle in the lane). By way of contrast, a second set of sensors (e.g., a second camera for recognizing errors in the lane estimation of the first camera) is used for a safety path (redundancy of the main path) in order to recognize errors and to bring the system into a safe state. Commands which indicate a “freedom from faults” for the main path of a driving function and a safety function are known from ISO26262 “Road vehicles—Functional safety”. For example, a camera which is deployed to generate or detect lanes for a driving function, e.g., within the framework of Lane Keep Assist, must not be used for checking the correctness of the lane created. Since the initial lane generation could be erroneous, it would not be expedient to carry out the validation with the same lane information. Consequently, the standard approach includes constructing completely redundant units: e.g., a safety path with a separate camera in addition to the main path. However, the redundancy concept by means of separate paths is “cost-intensive” since, as a general rule, a second sensor set is necessary, as a result of which separate costs are, in addition, incurred for acquisition and installation. An apparatus for actuating a vehicle module is known from DE 10 2017 210 156 A1, which has a safety processor with at least one information interface at an input of the safety processor and a control interface at an output of the safety processor, wherein the safety processor has a first core, a second core and a third core. The first core is designed to condu