TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001 ] The present invention relates to a method for assisting a rear vehicle in a vehicle procession in overtaking, the vehicle procession including at least two vehicles, and the vehicle procession traveling on the same path. The method according to the present invention is particularly implemented on a two-lane two-way road. That is, if a vehicle in a vehicle procession needs to overtake, an opposite lane particularly needs to be used. The present invention further relates to a vehicle for performing the method.

BACKGROUND

[0002] When a vehicle procession travels on a two-lane two-way road, particularly a road having a plurality of bends in, for example, a mountainous area, vehicles in the vehicle procession may sometimes be separated by trucks or other slower vehicles, so that a rear vehicle is increasingly further away from a front vehicle. Due to a blind region at a bend, if a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is prevent in the opposite lane in the blind region, the slowed rear vehicle in the vehicle procession does not dare to overtake. Therefore, overtaking is not easy especially in a mountainous area. Thus, the travel speed of the entire vehicle procession is decreased, and the vehicles of the vehicle procession are separated.

[0003] The schemes for assisting overtaking in the prior art typically concern urban traffic scenarios, and depend on construction of road infrastructure. Regarding regions with insufficient infrastructure, devices or methods for assisting overtaking are not common.

SUMMARY

[0004] Provided in the present invention is a method for assisting a rear vehicle in a vehicle procession in overtaking, the method being particularly implemented on a two-lane two-way road. When traveling on a road, a vehicle of a vehicle procession usually needs to overtake via an opposite lane. Especially in the case of a plurality of bends, such overtaking is dangerous, and opportunities for overtaking are few.

[0005] Therefore, the method according to the present invention enables a rear vehicle in a vehicle procession traveling particularly on a two-lane two- way road to perform overtaking, particularly to overtake a slow vehicle that does not belong to the vehicle procession but is sandwiched in the middle of the vehicle procession. Within the framework of the present invention, the vehicle procession comprises at least two vehicles, and the vehicle procession travels on the same path, particularly on a two-lane two-way road. The method comprises at least the following steps:

[0006] - activating an overtaking mode of the at least two vehicles,

[0007] - detecting at least a distance between two vehicles of the vehicle procession and the number of vehicles in an opposite lane, particularly detecting a distance between two adjacent vehicles of the vehicle procession and the number of vehicles in the opposite lane between the two adjacent vehicles, and

[0008] - assisting, on the basis of a detection result, a rear vehicle in the two vehicles of the vehicle procession in overtaking.

[0009] Within the framework of the present invention, the vehicle procession may consist of vehicles that all can implement the method according to the present invention, but does not necessarily consist of a plurality of vehicles having the same destination. For example, a first vehicle capable of implementing the method of the present invention travels on a two-lane two- way road, and a vehicle, particularly a vehicle traveling slowly, is ahead of the first vehicle. Then, the first vehicle can establish a direct or an indirect connection to a second vehicle (capable of implementing the method of the present invention) that is further ahead of the first vehicle, so as to form a vehicle procession to implement the method according to the present invention, thereby assisting the first vehicle in overtaking the vehicle ahead. The second vehicle is preferably a vehicle in the vehicle procession that is before and adjacent to the first vehicle. However, a third vehicle of the vehicle procession may also be present between the second vehicle and the first vehicle. Here, particularly, the overtaken vehicle does not belong to the vehicle procession. Here, the vehicle procession may be temporarily established during traveling on the road. That is, if a vehicle capable of implementing the method according to the present invention encounters, while traveling on a road, another vehicle also capable of implementing according to the present invention, a temporary vehicle procession can be assembled to implement the method according to the present invention. However, it is also conceivable that the individual vehicles in the vehicle procession have already established the vehicle procession at the time of departure, and particularly, have the same destination.

[0010] After the vehicle procession is established, corresponding vehicles of the vehicle procession activate the overtaking mode first. In the overtaking mode, a distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle that are preferably adjacent to each other in the vehicle procession and the number of vehicles in the opposite lane between the two vehicles are calculated. According to a detection result, a rear vehicle in the two vehicles of the vehicle procession is assisted in overtaking, particularly, the rear vehicle is assisted in overtaking a vehicle that does not belong to the vehicle procession.

[001 1 ] However, it is also conceivable that a distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle that are not adjacent to each other in the vehicle procession and the number of vehicles in the opposite lane between the two vehicles are calculated. According to a detection result, a rear vehicle in the two vehicles is assisted in overtaking. Here, an overtaken vehicle may be particularly a third vehicle in the vehicle procession.

[0012] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the method, position sensors of the two vehicles of the vehicle procession are used to respectively determine a front vehicle and the rear vehicle, and to determine the distance between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle. The position sensor is preferably a satellite-based positioning system, such as a GPS positioning system, a BeiDou positioning system, a GLONASS positioning system, and/or a Galileo positioning system. [0013] Within the framework of the present invention, a vehicle passing by in the opposite lane is detected via respective sensors of the vehicles in the vehicle procession, and particularly, a travel direction of the vehicle passing by in the opposite lane is determined according to a sensing sequence of a front sensor and a rear sensor of a vehicle in the vehicle procession. For example, on a right-hand traffic road, if a left-front radar and a left-rear radar of a vehicle in the vehicle procession sequentially detect that a vehicle passes by in the opposite lane, it is indicated that a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane and passes by the vehicle in the vehicle procession. If a left-rear radar and a left-front radar of a vehicle in the vehicle procession sequentially detect that a vehicle passes by in the opposite lane, it is indicated that a vehicle traveling in the same direction is present in the opposite lane and passes by the vehicle in the vehicle procession, that is, the vehicle in the vehicle procession is overtaken.

[0014] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sensors used by the vehicles in the vehicle procession to detect a vehicle passing by in the opposite lane are, for example, radars and/or cameras, and particularly, lateral radars and/or front cameras of the vehicles. For example, on a right-hand traffic road, a front camera and a left-front radar are used to comprehensively detect whether a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is approaching, and/or a left-rear radar is used to detect that the vehicle traveling in the opposite direction has passed by and is then traveling away.

[0015] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the front vehicle, a counter is increased by 1 , and/or when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the rear vehicle, the counter is decreased by 1 . If a vehicle traveling in the same direction in the opposite lane passes by the front vehicle or the rear vehicle, that is, the front vehicle or the rear vehicle is overtaken, the counter is preferably not increased or decreased.

[0016] Within the framework of the present invention, the counter may be provided on the vehicles in the vehicle procession, and may be, for example, a counting program in a vehicle control system of each vehicle of the vehicle procession, or an apparatus dedicated to counting and provided on the vehicle. The vehicle control system can be configured to perform at least a portion of the method according to the present invention, and comprises, for example, an application specific integrated circuit, one or more processors, a non- transitory memory having instructions stored therein. The vehicle control system is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU), also typically referred to as a “driving computer”, a “vehicle-mounted computer”, or the like. Alternatively, the counter may not be provided on any vehicle of the vehicle procession, but is provided in a central server. Within the framework of the present invention, the central server may be provided by a vehicle manufacturer, or may be a general platform applicable to different brands of vehicles.

[0017] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the count of the counter is 0, a prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed is output in the rear vehicle. When the counter is 0, it is particularly indicated that no vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle of the vehicle procession.

[0018] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a driver of the rear vehicle and/or a vehicle-mounted control system of the rear vehicle determines, at least according to the prompt, whether to overtake. Within the framework of the present invention, the “prompt” may be, for example, a voice prompt, text shown on a vehicle-mounted display, or information output to the vehicle control system. In particular, the voice prompt and the shown text are used to indicate to the driver that overtaking can be performed, and the information output to the vehicle control system particularly provides, to the vehicle control system, a basis for decision making. Here, alternatively or additionally, the vehicle control system can automatically determine, at least according to the prompt, whether to overtake. Within the framework of the present invention, when the driver or the vehicle control system automatically determines whether to overtake, other information is further needed if necessary, such as a relative speed of the rear vehicle with respect to a vehicle to be overtaken that is immediately adjacent to and in front of the rear vehicle, a distance between the rear vehicle and a front vehicle of the vehicle procession, particularly the adjacent front vehicle, an absolute speed of the rear vehicle, road conditions (for example, whether a sharp bend is present), weather conditions (for example, whether the road surface is slippery), etc.

[0019] Within the framework of the present invention, the road conditions can be acquired, for example, via map data prestored in the vehicle control system in conjunction with vehicle location information. The weather conditions can be acquired, for example, from a weather service website via a real-time connection to the Internet established by the vehicle-mounted control system. Those skilled in the art might also provide, to the driver or the vehicle control system, the basis for decision making by using other methods of acquiring information such as road conditions, weather conditions, etc.

[0020] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, various sensor data of each vehicle in the vehicle procession can be transmitted to the central server, and processed information and/or an instruction is returned to each vehicle via the central server. Here, a method for transmission to the central server may be any method known to those skilled in the art, and preferably comprises: establishing a connection to a radio communication base station via the vehicle control system (particularly, via a vehicle-mounted communication apparatus) of the vehicle, and then establishing a connection to the central server via the radio communication base station; or, establishing a connection to a mobile terminal of the driver via the vehicle control system (particularly, via a vehicle-mounted communication apparatus), and then establishing a connection to the central server via the mobile terminal. Here, the mobile terminal may refer to, for example, a terminal device (such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, etc.) having a network connection, and particularly a mobile phone having an application connected to the central server. [0021 ] Within the framework of the present invention, for example, the central server receives information such as locations, speeds, etc., of the first vehicle and the second vehicle of the vehicle procession. Via the information, it is determined that the first vehicle and the second vehicle are respectively the rear vehicle and the front vehicle, and a distance between the two vehicles is determined. Then, it is further determined, via sensor signals on the rear vehicle and the front vehicle, preferably radar and camera signals, that a corresponding vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is passing by in the opposite lane. When a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the front vehicle, the counter of the central server is increased by 1 . When a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the rear vehicle, the counter is decreased by 1. The central server transmits processed information to a corresponding vehicle in the vehicle procession, particularly transmitting, to the rear vehicle, information such as the distance to the front vehicle of the vehicle procession and the counter being 0, etc. Here, another vehicle, i.e., a third vehicle, also belonging to the vehicle procession may be present between the rear vehicle and the front vehicle. In this case, the rear vehicle may overtake the third vehicle that also belongs to the vehicle procession. Alternatively, the rear vehicle and the front vehicle may also be two adjacent vehicles in the vehicle procession. That is, another vehicle that does not belong to the vehicle procession is present between the rear vehicle and the front vehicle.

[0022] Alternatively or additionally, the central server may also transmit, with reference to location information uploaded by each vehicle of the vehicle procession, information (such as road conditions and weather conditions, etc.) matching the location information to each vehicle.

[0023] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, sensor data of all vehicles of the vehicle procession is transmitted to a vehiclemounted control system of a lead vehicle of the vehicle procession, and processed information and/or an instruction is returned to each vehicle via the vehicle-mounted control system of the lead vehicle. The lead vehicle may be any vehicle in the vehicle procession. In this case, each vehicle in the vehicle procession can establish a direct connection via wireless communication. After the direct connection is established, for example, the first vehicle in the rear receives sensor data of the adjacent front vehicle (the second vehicle) ahead of the first vehicle. In this case, the first vehicle is particularly the lead vehicle, and the lead vehicle compares the received sensor data with data measured by a sensor carried by itself, so as to calculate at least a distance to the front vehicle (the second vehicle) in the vehicle procession and the number of vehicles in the opposite lane between the lead vehicle and the front vehicle. The lead vehicle outputs, via the processed information, a prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed, and in the case that the lead vehicle is the rear vehicle, the lead vehicle itself sends, to the driver, the prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed, and/or the vehicle control system of the lead vehicle automatically determines, with reference to other information (as described above), whether to overtake.

[0024] It should be noted here that within the framework of the present invention, the vehicle control system automatically determining whether to overtake falls particularly within the scope of autonomous driving. For example, only after the driver of the rear vehicle activates autonomous driving of the rear vehicle, can the vehicle control system thereof automatically determine, according to the acquired processed information, whether to overtake. Here, the “processed information” refers to, for example, a relative speed of the rear vehicle with respect to a vehicle to be overtaken that is immediately adjacent to and in front of the rear vehicle, a distance between the rear vehicle and a front vehicle of the vehicle procession, particularly the adjacent front vehicle, an absolute speed of the rear vehicle, road conditions (for example, whether a sharp bend is present), weather conditions (for example, whether the road surface is slippery), etc. The processed information may be information received from the central server, and/or information obtained after processing received data sensed by the individual vehicle sensors.

[0025] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle procession travels on a two-lane two-way road. The reason is as follows: on a two-lane two-way road, every vehicle of the vehicle procession is adjacent to the opposite lane, and each vehicle has to use the opposite lane in order to overtake. The method according to the present invention particularly facilitates overtaking performed by a rear vehicle in a vehicle procession traveling on a two-lane two-way road.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present invention, provided is a vehicle, capable of overtaking with the assistance of the above method. In particular, the vehicle according to the present invention has a vehicle control system capable of performing the method according to the present invention. For example, when the overtaking mode is activated, the vehicle control system can receive sensor data from another vehicle (of which the overtaking mode is activated) of the vehicle procession, and process the received sensor data, and at least after acquiring information such as the counter being 0, the present vehicle being the rear vehicle of the vehicle procession, and a distance to a preferred adjacent front vehicle of the vehicle procession, the vehicle control system can send, to the driver, a prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed. Alternatively, when the overtaking mode is activated, the vehicle control system can send, to a central server, information acquired by a sensor of the present vehicle, and at least upon receiving, from the central server, information such as the present vehicle being the rear vehicle, a distance to a preferred adjacent front vehicle of the vehicle procession, and the counter being 0, the vehicle control system can send, to the driver, a prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed. Alternatively or additionally, the vehicle control system can automatically determine, according to the acquired prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed and other sensor data, whether to overtake.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] A method for assisting a rear vehicle of a vehicle procession in overtaking according to the present invention is schematically illustrated below by means of embodiments. [0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present application, in which a vehicle procession having two vehicles travels preferably in the same direction on a two-lane two-way road having a plurality of bends.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] As can be seen in an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle procession having two vehicles travels in the same direction on a two-lane two-way road having a plurality of bends. In this embodiment, vehicles travel on the right. A first vehicle 1 and a second vehicle 2 form the vehicle procession, and the first vehicle 1 is the rear vehicle, and the second vehicle 2 is the front vehicle. A plurality of other vehicles 11 , 12 that do not belong to the vehicle procession are present between the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2.

[0030] As can be seen from FIG. 1 , each of the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2 has lateral sensors and a front camera. In the drawing, lateral triangle regions and a front triangle region of each of the two vehicles are respectively schematic sensing regions of lateral sensors 3, 4 and a front camera 5. Here, the lateral sensors are particularly lateral radars, and are respectively the leftfront radar 3 and the left-rear radar 4 in the drawing.

[0031 ] In an embodiment according to the present invention, a travel direction of a vehicle passing by in the opposite lane is determined according to a sensing sequence of the left-front radar 3 and the left-rear radar 4 of a vehicle in conjunction with the front camera 5. For example, the left-front radar 3 and the left-rear radar 4 of the second vehicle 2 sequentially detect that a vehicle 13 passes by in the opposite lane, and the front camera 5 senses that the vehicle 13 is approaching in the front, which indicates that the vehicle 13 traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane and passes by the second vehicle 2. In contrast to this (not shown in the drawing), for example, the left-rear radar 4 and the left-front radar 3 of the first vehicle 1 sequentially detect that a vehicle passes by in the opposite lane, which indicates that a vehicle traveling in the same direction is present in the opposite lane and passes by the first vehicle 1 , that is, the first vehicle 1 is overtaken. [0032] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the left-front radar 3 and the leftrear radar 4 of the first vehicle 1 sequentially detect that a vehicle 14 passes by in the opposite lane, and the front camera 5 senses that the vehicle 14 is approaching in the front, which indicates that the vehicle 14 traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane and passes by the first vehicle 1.

[0033] In the embodiment in FIG. 1 , the vehicles 13, 14 in the opposite lane travel along a dotted arrow in the opposite lane.

[0034] Then, vehicle control systems of the second vehicle 2 and the first vehicle 1 respectively transmit, to a central server 30 via a base station 20, detected information indicating that a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane. The central server 30 includes a counter. When a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the second vehicle 2, the counter is increased by 1 . When a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction passes by in the opposite lane adjacent to the first vehicle 1 , the counter is decreased by 1 . In addition, when the first vehicle 1 detects that the first vehicle 1 is overtaken or when the second vehicle 2 detects that the second vehicle 2 is overtaken, the counter of the central server preferably does not perform any addition or subtraction operation. The central server 30 further receives information such as locations, speeds, etc., of the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2. Via the information, it is determined that the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2 are respectively the rear vehicle and the front vehicle, and a distance between the two vehicles is determined. The central server 30 may also transmit, with reference to location information uploaded by each vehicle of the vehicle procession, information (such as road conditions, weather conditions, etc.) matching the location information to each vehicle.

[0035] Alternatively, in a manner not shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle control system particularly establishes a connection to a mobile terminal of a driver via a vehicle-mounted communication apparatus, and a connection to the central server 30 is then established via the mobile terminal. Here, the mobile terminal may refer to, for example, a terminal device (such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, etc.) having a network connection, and particularly a mobile phone having an application connected to the central server.

[0036] In addition to the embodiment shown in the drawing, the counter may also be provided on the vehicles in the vehicle procession, and may be, for example, a counting program in the vehicle control system of each vehicle of the vehicle procession or an apparatus dedicated to counting and provided on the vehicle.

[0037] When the count of the counter is 0, the central server 30 outputs, to the rear vehicle (i.e., the first vehicle 1 ) via the base station 20, a prompt indicating that overtaking can be performed. When the counter is 0, it is indicated that no vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is present in the opposite lane between the second vehicle 2 and the first vehicle 1 .

[0038] In this case, the driver of the rear vehicle (the first vehicle 1 ) and/or a vehicle-mounted control system of the rear vehicle determines, at least according to the prompt, whether to overtake. The “prompt” may be, for example, a voice prompt, text shown on a vehicle-mounted display, or information output to the vehicle control system.

[0039] Here, when the driver or the vehicle control system of the first vehicle 1 automatically determines whether to overtake, other information is further needed if necessary, such as a relative speed of the first vehicle 1 with respect to a vehicle 11 to be overtaken that is immediately adjacent to and in front of the first vehicle 1 , a distance between the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2, an absolute speed of the first vehicle 1 , road conditions (for example, whether a sharp bend is present), weather conditions (for example, whether the road surface is slippery), etc.

[0040] In this embodiment, the road conditions can be acquired via map data prestored in the vehicle control system in conjunction with vehicle location information. The weather conditions can be acquired from a weather service website via a real-time connection to the Internet established by the vehiclemounted control system. Information required by the driver or the vehicle control system to determine whether to overtake can be transmitted at least partially by the central server 30 to the corresponding vehicle via the base station 20.

[0041 ] In addition to the scenario shown in FIG. 1 , another vehicle, i.e., a third vehicle, belonging to the vehicle procession may be present between the rear vehicle and the front vehicle. In this case, the rear vehicle may overtake the third vehicle that also belongs to the vehicle procession.

[0042] According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , after receiving a prompt indicating that the counter is 0, the driver or the vehicle control system of the first vehicle 1 makes an overtaking decision, preferably with reference to the distance between the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2 (e.g., the distance is 500 meters), road conditions (for example, a plurality of bends are present, but no sharp bend is present), weather conditions (a clear day, and the road being dry), etc., and then overtakes other vehicles 11 , 12. Alternatively, after receiving a prompt indicating that the counter is 0, the driver or the vehicle control system of the first vehicle 1 decides not to overtake, preferably with reference to the distance between the first vehicle 1 and the second vehicle 2 (e.g., the distance is 100 meters, and is overly short), road conditions (a sharp bend is present), weather conditions (a rainy day, and the road being slippery), etc.

[0043] Within the framework of the present invention, terms “first”, “second”, ... are for descriptive purposes only, and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of “a plurality of” means two or more, unless clearly specified otherwise.

[0044] It should be understood that the above-shown embodiments of the present invention are exemplary rather than restrictive, and are used to show typical implementations of the method for assisting a rear vehicle of a vehicle procession in overtaking according to the present invention. More precisely, in addition to the embodiments described above, a large number of solution variations that are generated by combining various features of the present invention and make sense to those skilled in the art are equally feasible.