# US 12,181,303 B2 · Method for controlling a vehicle system of a vehicle equipped for carrying out an automated driving operation and device for carrying out the method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,181,303 B2 - Document ID: US12181303B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/058,253 - Filed: 2019-04-10 - Published: 2021-07-15 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2018-05-25 - Assignees: Mercedes-Benz Group AG - Applicants: Daimler AG - Inventors: Florian Ries; Frank Schuster; Martin Haueis; Mohammad Ghanaat - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12181303B2 ## CPC - G01C 21/30: Map- or contour-matching - G01C 21/3811: {Point data, e.g. Point of Interest [POI]} - B60K 28/10: responsive to conditions relating to the vehicle - B60W 50/12: Limiting control by the driver depending on vehicle state, e.g. interlocking means for the control input for preventing unsafe operation - G01C 21/3815: {Road data} - G01C 21/3844: {Data obtained from position sensors only, e.g. from inertial navigation} - B60W 60/001: {Planning or execution of driving tasks} - B60W 2552/05: Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT ## Abstract A method for controlling a vehicle system of a vehicle which is equipped to carry out an automated driving operation involves localizing the vehicle and approving the vehicle system for activation depending on a result of the localization. The vehicle is localized with at least two different localization methods. The at least two localization methods include at least one landmark-based localization method and one localization method based on at least one global navigation satellite system. The vehicle system is only approved for activation if it is confirmed with each of the applied localization methods that the vehicle is located on a route section approved for automated driving operation. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for controlling a vehicle system of a vehicle, which is equipped to perform automated driving operation, the method comprising: localizing the vehicle with at least two different localization methods, wherein the at least two localization methods comprise at least one landmark-based localization method and one localization method based on at least one global navigation satellite system; and approving the vehicle system for activation depending on a result of the localization, wherein the vehicle system is only approved for activation if it is confirmed with each of the applied localization methods that the vehicle is located on a route section approved for automated driving operation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the landmark-based localization method comprises: comparing sensor-determined landmark signatures with landmark signatures takes from a digital map to determine a most probable position of the vehicle in the digital map and a similarity measure of the comparison of sensor-determined landmark signatures with landmark signatures. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein a confirmation that the vehicle is located on a route section approved for automated driving operation is only issued if the determined most probable position is located on the route section approved for automated driving operation, and the determined similarity measure exceeds a predetermined similarity threshold. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising: comparing the determined most probable position with a position determined by the localization method based on the at least one global navigation satellite system. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the determined most probable position is evaluated as plausible if the determined most probable position and the position determined by the localization method based on the at least one global navigation satellite system are within a predetermined maximum distance from each other. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein a confirmation that the vehicle is on a route section approved for automated driving operation is only issued if the determined most probable position has been evaluated as plausible. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the localization method based on at least one global navigation satellite system comprises: determining a current position of the vehicle using the at least one global navigation satellite system; determining an upper error limit for an expected deviation of an actual vehicle position from the current position of the vehicle determined using the at least one global navigation satellite system; defining a target limit in such a way that an area encompassed by the target limit does not encompass areas of adjacent roads, wherein a confirmation that the vehicle is on a route section approved for automated driving operation is only issued if the determined upper error limit lies within the area encompassed by the target limit. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the landmark-based localization method comprises: downloading, by the vehicle, a map section of the digital map from a server external to the vehicle, wherein the map section is assigned to a current position of the vehicle, and wherein the current position of the vehicle is determined by the localization method based on the at least one global navigation satellite system. ### Claim 9 A device for controlling a vehicle system of a vehicle, which is equipped to perform automated driving operation, the device comprising: a global navigation satellite system receiver; a vehicle sensor system; and a processing unit coupled to the global navigation satellite system receiver and the vehicle sensor system, wherein the processing unit is configured to localize the vehicle using a landmark-based localization using information from the vehicle sensor system and a localization based on signals received by the global navigation satellite system receiver; and approve the vehicle system for activation depending on a result of the localization, wherein the vehicle system is only approved for activation if it is confirmed that the localizations using the landmark-based localization based on the signals received by the global navigation satellite system receiver both indicate that the vehicle is located on a route section approved for automated driving operation.