Autonomous vehicle arrangement and method for controlling an autonomous vehicle

Claim 1

An autonomous vehicle arrangement, comprising: an input unit for travel orders; a vehicle route planning unit comprising at least one position finding unit and a digital street map; a vehicle path generating unit for generating a vehicle path from a present location to a designated destination; a plurality of sensors including at least one range sensor for detecting objects and condition features of the vehicle path; a collision avoidance unit; a vehicle condition data recognition unit; a vehicle control unit; and a vehicle actuator control unit for controlling vehicle drive system actuators based on signals generated by the vehicle control unit; wherein the plurality of sensors includes: at least one range sensor located in a front area of the vehicle; at least one range sensor located in a rear area of the vehicle; a plurality of ultrasonic and/or microwave radar sensors located at the sides of the vehicle; and at least one camera located in each of the front and rear areas of the vehicle.

Claim 31

A method for controlling an external communication system of an autonomous vehicle having an input unit for travel orders, a route planning unit containing a position finding device and a digital street map, a vehicle course generating unit for generating a vehicle course from a present location to a desired destination, an external communication system, an object recognition device, a vehicle control unit, a vehicle drive system actuation and a plurality of sensors, comprising the following steps: a) providing an input to the input unit representing a desired travel destination; b) transmitting the input travel destination to the route planning unit; c) detecting the current vehicle location by the position finding device; d) determining a route, defined in route segments, from the current vehicle location to the travel destination by a digital map and optimization algorithms, taking into account any traffic information provided over the external communication system; e) transmitting to the vehicle course generating unit from the route planning unit the individual route segments to be traveled and the current location of the vehicle; f) generating an optimized course for the transmitted route segments, taking into account any traffic information provided over the external communication system and infrastructure information stored in the digital map and/or detected by the plurality of sensors; g) transmitting the generated course, the vehicle condition data and the data acquired by the plurality of sensors to the vehicle control unit; h) verifying in the vehicle control unit the functionality of individual vehicle modules and sensors and any intervention in the vehicle actuator system in order to bring the vehicle into a safe condition in the event of system defects relevant to safety; i) generating a control vector for individual vehicle drive system actuators for implementing the generated course, taking into account data acquired by the object recognition device; and j) transmitting the control vector to the control unit for controlling the vehicle actuator drive system to cause the associated control data to be transmitted from the control vector to the individual vehicle actuators.

Claim 32

A method for controlling an external communication system of an autonomous vehicle having an input unit for travel orders, a route planning unit containing a position finding device and a digital street map, a vehicle course generating unit for generating a vehicle course from a present location to a desired destination, an external communication system, an object recognition device, a vehicle control unit, a vehicle drive system actuation and a plurality of sensors, comprising the following steps: a) providing an input to the input unit representing a desired travel destination; b) transmitting the input travel destination to the route planning unit; c) detecting the current vehicle location by the position finding device; d) determining a route, defined in route segments, from the current vehicle location to the travel destination by a digital map and optimization algorithms, taking into account any traffic information provided over the external communication system; e) transmitting to the vehicle course generating unit from the route planning unit the individual route segments to be traveled and the current location of the vehicle; f) generating an optimized course for the transmitted route segments, taking into account any traffic information provided over the external communication system and infrastructure information stored in the digital map and/or detected by the plurality of sensors; g) transmitting the generated course, the vehicle condition data and the data acquired by the plurality of sensors to the vehicle control unit; h) verifying in the vehicle control unit the functionality of individual vehicle modules and sensors and any intervention in the vehicle actuator system in order to bring the vehicle into a safe condition in the event of system defects relevant to safety; i) generating a control vector for individual vehicle drive system actuators for implementing the generated course, taking into account data acquired by the object recognition device; and j) transmitting the control vector to the control unit for controlling the vehicle actuator drive system to cause the associated control data to be transmitted from the control vector to the individual vehicle actuators.