Method and automatic control systems for determining a gap in traffic between two vehicles for a lane change of a vehicle

A method for a transportation vehicle, the method being performed under control of a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving a driving intention message containing a lane change request for a future lane change from a requesting transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message comprises an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle;
• ascertaining an item of information relating to cooperation in a cooperative driving maneuver with the requesting transportation vehicle based on a merging request required for the lane change request, wherein the ascertained item of information relating to the cooperation indicates whether the transportation vehicle is possible as a cooperation partner and whether a cooperative behavior is possible taking into account a traffic situation based on the received driving intention message;
• determining information relating to a driving maneuver by ascertaining information relating to at least one distance to a leading transportation vehicle and/or a trailing transportation vehicle to calculate whether the merging request is able to be complied with in a possible cooperation area, wherein the at least one distance pertains to a gap in traffic required to perform the merging request, wherein the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver is determined based on information included in the received driving intention message and based on information generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, which both relate to at least one distance, a speed of the transportation vehicle and a distance to the possible cooperation area;
• ascertaining the cooperative driving maneuver to be performed based on the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver;
• calculating whether the ascertained cooperative driving maneuver is possible taking into account the traffic situation;
• interchanging vehicle-to-vehicle coordination messages for coordinating the cooperative driving maneuver with the at least one further transportation vehicle;
• and
• providing driving assistance to perform the cooperative driving maneuver.

A control system for a transportation vehicle, the control system comprising a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle being configured to:

• identify a gap in traffic between two transportation vehicles based on a first detection process, a second detection process, and a third detection process,
• wherein the first detection process is based on at least one vehicle-to-vehicle status message from at least one further transportation vehicle wherein vehicle-to-vehicle status message includes information relating to a position and/or a trajectory of the at least one further transportation vehicle,
• wherein the second detection process is based on data generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle,
• wherein the third detection process is based on vehicle-to-vehicle messages containing environmental information from the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the environmental information is based on sensor recordings of an environment of the at least one further transportation vehicle generated by at least one on-board sensor of the at least one further transportation vehicle,
• wherein the gap identification process wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle messages including environmental information include information that indicates road areas which are occupied by transportation vehicles and free road areas,
• wherein the gap identification process uses the environmental information to construct a virtual field of view or virtual sensor coverage from a combination of sensor data from the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle in the second detection process and the sensor data from the at least one further transportation vehicle in the third detection process,
• whereby, the gap identification process is performed for positions which are accessible by viewpoints of sensors of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle and for viewpoints concealed from sensor view points of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle;
• in response to ascertaining that the gap identification process does not identify a gap in traffic, transmit a driving intention message from the at least one transportation vehicle to at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message includes an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle;
• longitudinally control the transportation vehicle parallel to the identified gap in traffic;
• and
• laterally control the transportation vehicle by a lane change parallel to the identified gap in traffic.

A control system for a transportation vehicle, the control system comprising a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle being configured to:

• receive a driving intention message containing a lane change request for a future lane change from a requesting transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message comprises an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle;
• ascertain an item of information relating to cooperation in a cooperative driving maneuver with the requesting transportation vehicle based on a merging request required for the lane change request, wherein the ascertained item of information relating to the cooperation indicates whether the transportation vehicle is possible as a cooperation partner and whether a cooperative behavior is possible taking into account a traffic situation based on the received driving intention message;
• determining information relating to a driving maneuver by ascertaining information relating to at least one distance to a leading transportation vehicle and/or a trailing transportation vehicle to calculate whether the merging request is able to be complied with in a possible cooperation area, wherein the at least one distance pertains to a gap in traffic required to perform the merging request, wherein the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver is determined based on information included in the received driving intention message and based on information generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, which both relate to at least one distance, a speed of the transportation vehicle and a distance to the possible cooperation area;
• ascertaining the cooperative driving maneuver to be performed based on the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver;
• calculating whether the ascertained cooperative driving maneuver is possible taking into account the traffic situation;
• interchanging vehicle-to-vehicle coordination messages for coordinating the cooperative driving maneuver with the at least one further transportation vehicle;
• and
• providing driving assistance to perform the cooperative driving maneuver.