Safety stoppage device and autonomous road vehicle equipped therewith

An autonomous road vehicle having a primary brake system including a primary brake circuit operatively connected to wheel brakes and a primary steering system including a primary steering actuator operatively connected to steerable wheels, the autonomous road vehicle further having at least one control network and at least one sensor for monitoring the autonomous road vehicle surroundings and motion, and an autonomous drive-control unit for processing sensor and communication signals and providing control signals for lateral and longitudinal control enabling continuous autonomous drive of the vehicle, the autonomous road vehicle comprising:

• a safety stoppage device including
• a primary brake-control unit configured to monitor the longitudinal control signals for faults and, upon determination of a fault in a longitudinal control signal, to execute a longitudinal control profile, stored independent from the autonomous drive-control unit, to control the wheel brakes to perform braking to a stop, and
• a primary steering-control unit configured to monitor the lateral control signals for faults and, upon determination of a fault in a lateral control signal, to control the primary steering actuator to follow a lateral control trajectory, stored independent from the autonomous drive-control unit, and, when not already triggered, trigger the primary brake-control unit to execute the stored longitudinal control profile to control the wheel brakes to perform braking to a stop during execution of the lateral control trajectory.

An autonomous road vehicle comprising:

• a primary brake system including a primary brake circuit operatively connected to wheel brakes;
• a primary steering system including a primary steering actuator operatively connected to steerable wheels;
• at least one control network and at least one sensor for monitoring surroundings and motion of the autonomous road vehicle;
• an autonomous drive-control unit configured to process sensor signals and provide control signals for lateral and longitudinal control enabling autonomous drive of the vehicle;
• and
• a safety stoppage device including
• a primary brake-control unit configured to monitor the longitudinal control signals for faults and, upon determination of a fault in a longitudinal control signal, to execute a longitudinal control profile, stored independent from the autonomous drive-control unit, to control the wheel brakes to perform braking to a stop, and
• a primary steering-control unit configured to monitor the lateral control signals for faults and, upon determination of a fault in a lateral control signal to control the primary steering actuator to follow a lateral control trajectory, stored independent from the autonomous drive-control unit, and, when not already triggered, to trigger the primary brake-control unit to execute the stored longitudinal control profile to control the wheel brakes to perform braking to a stop during execution of the lateral control trajectory.