US 12,441,317 B2
Automated lane changing device and method for vehicle
Guokai Hong, Hefei (CN)
Assigned to NIO TECHNOLOGY (ANHUI) CO., LTD, Hefei (CN)
Filed by NIO TECHNOLOGY (ANHUI) CO., LTD, Hefei (CN)
Filed on Apr. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/713,331.
Claims priority of application No. 202110365612.0 (CN), filed on Apr. 6, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0315003 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
Int. Cl. B60W 30/08 (2012.01); B60W 30/18 (2012.01); B60W 50/00 (2006.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); B62D 15/02 (2006.01)
CPC B60W 30/18163 (2013.01) [B60W 50/0098 (2013.01); B60W 2520/105 (2013.01); B60W 2552/10 (2020.02); B60W 2554/802 (2020.02)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An automated lane changing method for a vehicle, comprising:
obtaining a plurality of areas in a target lane, wherein the plurality of areas are determined based on a signal input by a vehicle sensor;
calculating, based on information about an obstacle comprised in each area in the plurality of areas, an expected lane changing point for the area;
selecting, based on the expected lane changing point and an availability check result for the plurality of areas, a first area in the plurality of areas as a target area for final lane changing;
calculating an optimal area, within the target area, for lane changing in real time during lane changing, wherein the optimal area provides better performance in terms of comfort, safety, and lane changing efficiency than other areas in the target area;
calculating whether the vehicle can return to an original lane in the case that the lane changing cannot be performed due to an obstacle around the vehicle during the lane changing; and
controlling the vehicle based on information associated with the first area, information associated with the optimal area, and a calculation result of whether the vehicle can return to the original lane,
wherein the availability check result for the plurality of areas comprises areas available for lane changing in the plurality of areas, and
wherein the areas available for lane changing comprise two or more areas, and selecting, based on the expected lane changing point and the availability check result for the plurality of areas, the first area in the plurality of areas as the target area for final lane changing comprises:
calculating, for each area in the two or more areas, a score of the vehicle to an expected lane changing point corresponding to the area; and
selecting an area with the highest score as the target area for final lane changing,
wherein the score of the vehicle to the expected lane changing point corresponding to the area is calculated based on i) safety of the vehicle related to a relative distance between the vehicle and an obstacle, ii) lane changing efficiency related to an amount of time taken by the vehicle to change lanes, and iii) comfort related to an average acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle when changing lanes.